k5ymo Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Hi...having just ripped my 'Box Set' to my iPod, and listening to it on the train for the past week, I can't help but wonder why 'Hey Hey What Can I Do' did not appear on Led Zeppelin III. It is a great song and would have fitted in to LZ III, or any later album well. Anyone have any ideas why it was only out as a 7" B side, and not an album track? "Hey Hey What Can I Do" can't be considered a poor track or potential 'album filler'. Been curious for years over this. Cheers from Perth, Western Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsj Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 why it wasnt selected in the first place for inclusion on an album (3?)i dont know. in the late 70s it was available on an atlantic compilation album. i never understood why the song wasn't included on coda, which would have helped improve and lengthen that album and seemed like a natural opportunity to make the song available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stariway95 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I never did understand why Hey Hey What Can i Do? was left off any of the albums. Maybe it was an outtake and they decided not to revist it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackDog71 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I just think they didn't feel it fit in at the time. I think Zeppelin III would have been a perfect fit for the song personally. Either way, i am glad that we were able to hear it sometime down the road. A truly great song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeptembermember Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Some off the most common reasons, to me, would be that someone from Atlantic Records didn't like it, a member didnt like it( most likely Jimmy), there might not have been enough room, or they figured collectors would like to buy the single since there was a song that wasn't from "Led Zeppelin III". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeppelincheetah Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 where on the album do you think it would fit best? personally I think it would've fit nicely between Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp and Hats Off to (Roy) Harper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave2007 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Well, it was the era of the LP / Album. Each side was only (average) 23 minutes long. If it had been the CD era I am sure it would not have been left off. I love the track...it attained cult status in the Uk because it wasn't on a Zep LP .....but in the USA it always had a lot of radio play and became a lot more well known. My abiding memory, years later, is the fanatical reaction it got when I saw it on various dates on the Page/Plant 1995 USA tour....then when I saw it in Paris on the first date of the Europe leg of the tour ...the audience virtually had no idea what it was....it was promptly dropped for the rest of Europe/UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Masson Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I like the song, but I think it's understandable they didn't include it on Led Zeppelin III (probably the end-result was Jimmy's decision). Including it would have changed the somewhat precarious balance of the album, in favor of a relatively light, acoustic atmosphere, making it hard to fit some other numbers in while still maintaining a certain over all coherence. Despite the album's emphasis on the acoustic side of the band, it was obviously important to them to include songs in a heavier vein, and to not eradicate the sheer "power" (for want of a better word) of the earlier albums. It was possible to include it on Graffiti of course - they did use several older recordings on there - but I am not sure whether it would have fit in really, and the question also arises what they should have left out instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5ymo Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 I like the song, but I think it's understandable they didn't include it on Led Zeppelin III (probably the end-result was Jimmy's decision). Including it would have changed the somewhat precarious balance of the album, in favor of a relatively light, acoustic atmosphere, making it hard to fit some other numbers in while still maintaining a certain over all coherence. Despite the album's emphasis on the acoustic side of the band, it was obviously important to them to include songs in a heavier vein, and to not eradicate the sheer "power" (for want of a better word) of the earlier albums. It was possible to include it on Graffiti of course - they did use several older recordings on there - but I am not sure whether it would have fit in really, and the question also arises what they should have left out instead. Good points, but with arranging if the album tracks, it could have fitted onto LZ III...and fitted into the vibe of the album nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Masson Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Good points, but with arranging if the album tracks, it could have fitted onto LZ III...and fitted into the vibe of the album nicely. I do appreciate your politeness, but if this is what you think then you also think my points are not good. Anyway, I stand by what I said earlier, although of course it's really guesswork. They had a lot of acoustic material but felt it was important to include Immigrant Song, Since I've Been Loving You, Out on the Tiles. A kind of balancing was needed to maintain some unity, which I think they more or less achieved on the album that was actually released - but that balance, as I said, was somewhat precarious. Because of the light and shade philosophy they worked from there were a lot of such considerations. A strong album has to retain a certain coherence of mood. Many later bands have opted to work from a sort of emotional abstraction: they sound like they're always angry, or always depressed - and in a totally different vibe, you get a singer like Sade, who is always mellow. This is really an easy way out compared to what Led Zeppelin wanted to do. They wanted a lot of breadth, but also they wanted to make albums that were coherent statements. There were a few songs that could have been used on LZIII but weren't, Poor Tom and Bron Y Aur, for instance - both written in the spring of 1970 in that Welsh cottage, and both in the CACGCE tuning Jimmy was experimenting with at the time. The only CACGCE song that made it to the album was Friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 It should have replaced HOTRH and ended Zep III. The strange way it ends would have been a great ending to a very underrated album. HOTRH is more fitting of an outtakes album anyway. Although interesting in their attempts to sound like an old blues act, the song is rather lame imo. Probably the only Zep song I don't really dig. HHWCID on the other hand is brillant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickZepp Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 They created the song specifically to be a single, I believe it was written after Zeppelin III was already done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 They created the song specifically to be a single, I believe it was written after Zeppelin III was already done. Definitely could've been on III or Graffiti if they wanted it to be. I honestly believe Zep had so much talent and great material at the time that they didn't miss it. They really had a lot of good material if you look at Graffiti and what they'd stockpiled. Remember also that they were also not a singles band - so to put that on a b-side was pretty unusual as well. Feels like a "why not?" afterthought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dawg Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 IMHO it was released as a single to garner sales that may not have come from an album. I researched this notion but can't find any proof to back my opinion. I am sur there was some marketing straregy to relaesing it as a single. Thanks to this thread I found a single CD version. http://www.amazon.com/Immigrant-Song-Led-Zeppelin/dp/B000008U7J/ref=pd_ys_qtk_k2a_3?pf_rd_p=233144601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=home&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Z246KWE6HRCA8HNX0CZ The song I have is a crapping recording off an album and I was looking for a quality version. I can hear the needle scratch at the end of the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Masson Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 They created the song specifically to be a single, I believe it was written after Zeppelin III was already done. Nope. It was recorded at Island Studios in July 1970, during the final sessions for Led Zeppelin III, released on October 5 in the U.S. and on October 21 in the U.K. Presumably the vocals for Immigrant Song were done at Island too, since Robert wrote the lyrics in this country late June, but the backing tracks for that song - the single with Hey Hey on the flipside - had been recorded earlier in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Masson Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 IMHO it was released as a single to garner sales that may not have come from an album. I researched this notion but can't find any proof to back my opinion. I am sur there was some marketing straregy to relaesing it as a single. Thanks to this thread I found a single CD version. http://www.amazon.com/Immigrant-Song-Led-Zeppelin/dp/B000008U7J/ref=pd_ys_qtk_k2a_3?pf_rd_p=233144601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=home&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Z246KWE6HRCA8HNX0CZ The song I have is a crapping recording off an album and I was looking for a quality version. I can hear the needle scratch at the end of the song. Hey Hey is the only song Led Zeppelin on a 45 that wasn't on an album, but I find it unlikely that there was much of a marketing strategy behind it. Singles weren't important for the band at all. The more likely explanation to me is that they liked the song, but thought it didn't really fit in on the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Hey Hey is the only song Led Zeppelin on a 45 that wasn't on an album, but I find it unlikely that there was much of a marketing strategy behind it. Singles weren't important for the band at all. The more likely explanation to me is that they liked the song, but thought it didn't really fit in on the album. I used to hear it on the radio all the time in the eighties, and going - "That's Led Zeppelin! But what song is that?" And then, thankfully, they released it in their box set years later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Man Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I kind of liked that bands did stuff like that back then. Mystery is absent from what passes for rock these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Nope. It was recorded at Island Studios in July 1970, during the final sessions for Led Zeppelin III, released on October 5 in the U.S. and on October 21 in the U.K. Presumably the vocals for Immigrant Song were done at Island too, since Robert wrote the lyrics in this country late June, but the backing tracks for that song - the single with Hey Hey on the flipside - had been recorded earlier in the year. While it may not have beenrecorded latter I seem to remember reading an interview with Page or Plant in which they stated a sing had been recorded specifically for the bands debut UK single which I asumed was Hey Hey. I'd guess that when Grant or whoever it was desided to keep with the mystique of releasing no singles in the UK that left the track in limbo a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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